is a 2007 Japanese film written, directed, edited by the film's lead star

Takeshi Kitano , also known as in Japan, is a Japanese comedian, actor, and filmmaker. While he is known primarily as a comedian and TV host in his native Japan, he is better known abroad for his work as a filmmaker and actor as well as TV host. During hi ...

. It is the second film in Kitano's

surrealist Surrealism is an art movement, art and cultural movement that developed in Europe in the aftermath of World War I in which artists aimed to allow the unconscious mind to express itself, often resulting in the depiction of illogical or dreamlike s ...

autobiographical An autobiography, sometimes informally called an autobio, is a self-written account of one's own life, providing a personal narrative that reflects on the author's experiences, memories, and insights. This genre allows individuals to share thei ...

trilogy, following '' Takeshis''', and concluding with '' Achilles and the Tortoise''.

Style

The

comedy Comedy is a genre of dramatic works intended to be humorous or amusing by inducing laughter, especially in theatre, film, stand-up comedy, television, radio, books, or any other entertainment medium. Origins Comedy originated in ancient Greec ...

crosses a broad range of genres common to Japanese film in a fashion similar to '' Getting Any?'', Kitano's 1995 parody. Kitano described the film as "a cinematic extension of his

manzai is a traditional style of comedy in Japanese culture comparable to double act comedy. usually involves two performers ()—a straight man () and a double act, funny man ()—trading jokes at great speed. Most of the jokes revolve around mut ...

comedy routines that continues in much the same vein as his last feature, the similarly eclectic ''Takeshis."

Plot

Kitano plays a hapless

film director A film director or filmmaker is a person who controls a film's artistic and dramatic aspects and visualizes the screenplay (or script) while guiding the film crew and actors in the fulfillment of that Goal, vision. The director has a key role ...

in search of a commercial hit, while suffering failure after failure as he tries out different genres.

Cast

* Tōru Emori * Kayoko Kishimoto * Anne Suzuki * Keiko Matsuzaka * Yoshino Kimura *

Kazuko Yoshiyuki (born 9 August 1935) is a Japanese actress, voice actress and essayist. Biography Early life Kazuko was born in Tokyo as a first daughter of Eisuke Yoshiyuki, a writer, and Aguri. She has an older brother, Junnosuke Yoshiyuki, a novelist, an ...

* Yuki Uchida * Akira Takarada * Yumiko Fujita * Ren Osugi * Susumu Terajima *Naomasa Musaka

Reception

In 2007, the

Venice Film Festival The Venice Film Festival or Venice International Film Festival (, "International Exhibition of Cinematographic Art of the Venice Biennale") is an annual film festival held in Venice, Italy. It is the world's oldest film festival and one of the ...

introduced a new award named after the film; Kitano was the first recipient of this '' Glory to the Filmmaker Award''.Venice to hand out Kitano prize
'' Variety Asia Online''.

References

External links

* *
Movie trailer at Official siteKantoku Banzai reviewed at Twitch
{{Takeshi Kitano 2007 films 2007 comedy-drama films Films directed by Takeshi Kitano Japanese comedy-drama films 2000s Japanese-language films Films scored by Shin'ichirō Ikebe